Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 37 and 38

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*Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 37:*

فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍ وَأَنبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًا وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا الْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ عِندَهَا رِزْقًا قَالَ يَا مَرْيَمُ أَنَّىٰ لَكِ هَٰذَا قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

So her Lord (Allah) accepted her with goodly acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner and put her under the care of Zakariya (Zachariya). Every time he entered Al-Mihrab to (visit) her, he found her supplied with sustenance. He said: "O Maryam (Mary)! From where have you got this?" She said, "This is from Allah." Verily, Allah provides sustenance to whom He wills, without limit."

*COMMENTARY*

Mary grew under Allāh's special protection. Her sustenance, under which we may include both her physical needs and her spiritual food, came from Allāh, and her growth was indeed a "goodly growth" which I have tried to express in the Text by the words "purity and beauty." Some approcryphal Christian writings say that she was brought up in the Temple to the age of twelve like a dove, and that she fed by angels.
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*Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 38:*

هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِن لَّدُنكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ الدُّعَاءِ

At that time Zakariya (Zachariya) invoked his Lord, saying: "O my Lord! Grant me from You, a good offspring. You are indeed the All-Hearer of invocation."

*COMMENTARY*

The birth of Mary, the mother of Jesus, of John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus, and of Jesus, the Prophet of Israel, whom Israel rejected, occurred in that order chronologically, and are told in that order. They are all inter-connected. Zakariyyah prayed for no ordinary son. He and his wife were past the age of parenthood. Seeing the growth of Mary, he prayed for some child from Allāh, - "from Thee, a progeny that is pure." To his surprise, he is given a son in the flesh, ushered in by a special Sign.